Endeavour Embarks On Its Final Journey To Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Space shuttle Endeavour is now on its way to Southern California.

Endeavour, flying atop a Boeing 747, took off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center at 4:22 a.m. Pacific time Wednesday.

The shuttle will fly to NASA facilities in Mississippi, Louisiana and lastly Houston, where it will stay overnight.

Endeavour will reach Edwards Air Force Base Thursday afternoon to refuel for its California tour.

Early Friday, the shuttle will fly over Lancaster and Palmdale before heading north to Sacramento and San Francisco.

Before landing at LAX at 11 a.m., it will fly over Malibu, the The Getty Center, California Science Center, Disneyland, Griffith Park Observatory, The Aquarium of the Pacific, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, The Queen Mary, Universal Studios, City Hall, Venice and Huntington at approximately 1,500 feet. Exactly flyover locations are subject to change.

The El Segundo Police Department has designated the 300 to 600 blocks of E. Imperial Avenue as public viewing space to watch Endeavour land at LAX.

“This is the best spot to take pictures at,” said an Endeavour enthusiast.

Click here for a map of the location, including road closures and designated public parking.

Endeavour was initially scheduled to arrive at LAX Thursday, but will be a day late due to unfavorable weather conditions.

The shuttle will remain at a United Airlines hanger until Oct. 12.

It will then begin traveling atop a NASA wheeled transporter east on Manchester Boulevard to Crenshaw Drive, then north on Crenshaw Boulevard and east on Martin Luther King before settling permanently at the Science Center.

The shuttle is due to go on display at the museum on Oct. 30.

During its career, Endeavour logged 25 missions and traveled nearly 123 million miles in space. Its first mission was in May of 1992 and its final space mission was in May of 2011.